


The Last Chance

by kg1507



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Blood, Character Death, Dark, Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, Female Friendship, Female Relationships, Gen, Heavy Angst, Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor Friendship, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor-centric, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor-centric, Other, POV Kara Danvers, POV Lena Luthor, Pain, Sad Ending, SuperCorp, Supergirl (TV 2015) Season 5, Two Shot, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kg1507/pseuds/kg1507
Summary: Lena is hours away from initiating Non Nochere 2.0, and is given one last chance to make a different decision."Lena, please, I know you think I'm just trying to manipulate you into calling off the launch, but I promise, there is no other way." She sighs, closing her eyes in frustration before taking a few more steps closer. "I am begging you, trust me just one more time. Please."
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 21
Kudos: 226





	1. Lena

"Lena."

She starts at the unexpected voice in her otherwise silent penthouse, almost falling off her kitchen bar stool where she’s been working for the last hour. She quickly grabs the counter in an attempt to stabilize herself and the edge of her hand bumps her glass, sloshing whiskey up and down its inner cylindrical walls.

"Jesus, you scared me." Lena breathes, her hand instinctively coming to rest over her racing heart. Since discovering her secret, Lena has learned that a sudden breeze, briefly lifting the hair off the back of her neck, and the following sound of boots hitting concrete usually preceded an untimely visit from her former best friend - but there had been no warning signs this time, and Lena hates surprises.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Lena scoffs and shakes her head, keeping her back to the Kryptonian as she refills her glass. "You know, you're really starting to sound like a broken record." Lena knows the routine that will play out by now; she can almost recite the script. There would be tears, apologies, pleading words that had come too late, and then she would fly off again, leaving Lena feeling a bit emptier than before.

She feels a stab of irritation - tomorrow is the launching of the new and improved Non Nochere, and Lena is not in the mood for histrionics nor the tough act Supergirl had put on when she'd last landed outside her window. Lena turns in her chair, intending to tell her just that, but the words die in her throat the second she sees who has come to see her tonight.

The red and blue suit is nowhere to be seen. In its place are a pair of loose-fitting blue jeans and a soft, downy-looking sweater of pale lilac, and instead of red boots covering her calves, she dons short brown ones lined with white faux fur. Her clothes aren’t the only changes. The glasses are gone, leaving her face open and unguarded, and her hair is worn loose around her shoulders; it’s almost disheveled-looking, as if she had been tossing and turning in bed for several hours beforehand. Her arms hang at her sides and hands that can bend steel are limp and shapeless, but it’s the look in her downcast eyes that sends a shiver of unease up Lena's spine.

Supergirl isn’t here tonight, but somehow it doesn’t feel like Kara Danvers is either.

Lena clears her throat, swallowing the nerves that linger there. "So, which is it tonight - good cop or bad cop?" She stands and crosses her arms, lifting her chin in a gesture of defiance that she hopes looks more intimidating than she feels.

Kara doesn't respond, staring at the floor near Lena's feet in silence. Lena notices for the first time how red her eyes are, how drained and exhausted she looks. It also occurs to her that the absence of her glasses make it impossible for her to shift into her heroic alter-ego if she needs to. Lena doesn't know how to feel about that. 

Several long seconds pass and Lena is just about to repeat herself when Kara finally raises her head and makes direct eye contact with her for the first time.

"Don't go through with the launch tomorrow." She says quietly.

Lena staggers, feeling the breath leave her lungs. "How… how do you know about that?" It was top secret information. No one had been told, and she would have known if their systems had been compromised. It wasn't like Lex would have revealed anything...

"Dreamer.” Kara says. “She has visions of the future. Sometimes they can be vague, but this… this she was certain of." A dark shadow passes over her face - not one of malice, but steeped in something Lena isn’t used to seeing in Kara: terror.

"And you're here to, what? Stop me no matter what, ‘like any other villain?’" Kara flinches as her words are thrown back in her face and Lena expects to feel some satisfaction, but finds none.

She expects her reply even less.

"I can't stop you.” Kara briefly raises her palms and lets them quickly drop to her sides in a gesture of admitted defeat. “I can't even try, because there is no world where I would fight you rather than fight  _ for _ you."

Lena chooses to ignore the sentiment behind the meaning and arches an eyebrow. "So, you're not here to stop me, and you're not here to give me your blessing - what exactly do you want, Kara?" She asks, exasperated. "Just be straightforward with me, for once - what are you so afraid of?"

Kara bites her lower lip as tears begin to well in her eyes. She hangs her head and whispers, brokenly, "I can't tell you."

Lena laughs, throwing her hands in the air with utter disbelief. "Of  _ course  _ you can't. God forbid you actually be honest with me for once in your life." She snatches her fresh drink from the counter and takes a long gulp of whiskey. The amber liquid feels deliciously warm as it flows down her throat, adding fuel to the fire that burns in her chest.

Kara takes a step forward, wringing her hands with a look of pure agony etched across her features. "You don't understand - Brainy ran the numbers and if I tell you why you can't launch tomorrow, there is no scenario that ends without loss of life. If I say nothing…" Kara wipes one eye with the sleeve of her sweater, leaving a wet splotch on her forearm. She takes a shaky breath and tries again. "If I say nothing… there's a  _ much  _ higher chance of survival."

Lena stares at her, coldly. "How convenient."

Kara lets out her breath all at once and her face crumples in dismay. "Lena, please, I know you think I'm just trying to manipulate you into calling off the launch, but I  _ promise _ , there is no other way. For everyone's sake, for-" She breaks off, catching herself before she can finish her sentence and reveal more than she should. She sighs, closing her eyes in frustration before taking a few more steps closer. "I am  _ begging _ you, trust me just one more time.  _ Please. _ "

Lena takes another slow sip, her eyes locked with Kara's as she weighs her options. She's spent the better part of a year slaving over this project, the answer to erasing the capability of evil from mankind. Life as they knew it would change drastically, but Lena wholeheartedly believed it was change that the world needed now more than ever. What Kara was asking her to do, to blindly trust her after all the lies she’d told - it went against every instinct in her body. And what was worse, it proved that Kara had learned absolutely nothing from her mistakes, choosing to keep Lena in the dark yet again. Her body burned with fury and frustration and overwhelming grief, knowing now that whatever sliver of hope that had lingered was now extinguished - there would be no chance of reconciliation between them, not now, not ever.

Lena lowers her drink and swallows the last sip, leaving only a solitary ice cube to melt at the bottom of her glass. Her fingers dance along its curve before she sets it back down with firm resolve. Her lips press into a thin, unyielding line. "Beg all you want, it means nothing to me. I will  _ never  _ stop working to better mankind, no matter what or who stands in my way. It means nothing.  _ You _ mean nothing." Lena's voice quivers and a massive lump forms in the middle of her throat, as if the very words were trying to strangle her from the inside. She gestures with her chin towards the open door of her balcony and lowers her voice. "You can leave the same way you came, Supergirl. And don't ever come back."

Kara doesn’t move for several long moments. Her tears continue to flow, wearing two wet tracks down her cheeks and she grits her teeth so hard that her whole jaw quivers from the effort to keep silent, but she makes no sound. Her hand twitches in Lena's direction, a movement so quick that it could be missed in the blink of an eye, and she makes a fist to quell her shaking fingers. She lifts her head and meets Lena’s eyes one last time, her mouth lifting in the barest hint of a sad smile. “You’re going to do great things, Lena, I’ve always believed that. I hope…” Her voice catches. “I hope one day, you’ll believe me when I say that you meant the world to me.” She walks backwards, taking small, slow steps as she maintains eye contact with Lena. When she reaches the open door, she stops and takes one last steadying breath.

“Goodbye, Lena.” And in full civilian clothing, Kara floats away, disappearing into the sea of skyscrapers below.

Lena lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and wipes at the corner of her eye with her thumb. She almost calls out Kara’s name to ask her what she means, and why her parting words had sounded so ominous, tinged with a hidden layer of finality that felt like it went beyond the ending of just their friendship. She sleeps fitfully that night, haunted by nightmares and waking in a sheen of cold sweat hours before dawn. It is the first night of many to follow.

* * *

_ Two months later...  _

It’s a beautiful day in National City. Dogs bark, children play, and the world keeps spinning on. But not for everyone.

Lena clenches her jaw when she finds the marker. It’s under a gigantic oak tree, whose branches seem to stretch outwards to touch everything within the very edges of its reach, much like she used to touch everyone who came into contact with her. Her light had a way of spreading like that.

Lena places a single flower on the dirt below - a plumeria, full and vibrant and soft, just like her. Lena kneels, not caring about mud or grass stains, not caring about much at all anymore. She reads the stone, so clean and new compared to those around it that have been weathered by the elements over time.

_ Kara Danvers _

_ Beloved daughter and sister _

_ “Her hope was a beacon to all.” _

Lena’s eyes well full with tears. She touches the stone lightly, shivering at the cold marble under her fingers. “Hi, Kara…” She says thickly. “I… I wanted to tell you…” There was so much, too much she wanted to say, and she had to believe that someone was listening, otherwise she might break down completely - then again, maybe she already had. She starts again. “I should have listened to you, before. I should have trusted you.”

_ Lena doesn’t understand. The launch should have been successful - all the calculations had been correct, every nuance accounted for. But she stands in the streets and sees nothing but violence, terror, horror unfolding before her eyes. Men grapple with each other in the streets, fists flying with unbridled hatred. Weapons are drawn and fashioned and utilized; kitchen knives tear at exposed flesh, baseball bats and other blunt objects collide with rib cages, femurs, skulls… the world has gone mad, and her device is the cause. _

_ She hears a noise behind her and she turns from one nightmare to another. Lex stands in full mech armor, pointing a very familiar-looking pistol straight at her heart. He smirks, cocking the weapon. “Oh, if only you could see the look on your face right now.” _

“I knew he would betray me, eventually. I just… I should have known better.  _ I should have known better.”  _ Lena’s chest aches from the grief in her heart, and she knows she will have to live with it for the rest of her life. All because she had been so blind.

_ The gun goes off and Lena closes her eyes, bracing herself for the impact, but it never comes. She feels a rush of air that feels less like a breeze and more like a hurricane, it almost takes her off her feet. She hears Kara’s breath leave her chest in one soft exhale, and when she staggers backwards, Lena sees the sickly green glow of kryptonite embedded in her chest. Lex’s face is calm, collected; he is not surprised - he expected this and planned for it, using a bullet meant for Lena but prepared to kill her in more ways than one. She is horrified to see that with each passing second, the kryptonite spreads over her body like a mutated cancer, and suddenly she knows what is happening. The nanites in her suit have been turned, infected, eating her from the inside out. _

_ The gun goes off again, and Kara catches a second bullet in her palm before it can reach Lena. It doesn’t matter that this one is made from earthly metal - it tears her skin apart just the same. Before Lex can fire a third round, the gun is knocked from his hand by a long electric-blue light projection and Nia pins him down with it. A blur of green tears the suit from his body; the Martian Manhunter grabs the Legion ship memory cube that falls to the ground and squeezes, shattering it into pieces. Instantly the madness around them stops. Non Nochere is no more. _

_ Suddenly, J’onn is thrown backwards and a portal opens up behind Lex. Lena can’t see who waits for him on the other side, and is helpless as she watches him hurl himself through it, disappearing into the purple void to safety. _

_ The cavalry arrives. Alex, Kelly, Brainy, they rush Lena where she stands, but it’s not her they’ve come for. _

_ Kara falls to her knees, her skin practically radiating green poison. Alex catches her sister, screaming for one of them to do something, save her, goddamn it, and J’onn looks at her helplessly. He can do nothing - in the short amount of time that has passed, the kryptonite has already taken over her lungs, it runs through her veins, it has encased her heart. Tears stream down his face and Nia is frozen with terror, and Lena realizes that she has lived this horror already, once upon a nightmare. _

_ Kara’s throat gurgles and she lifts her injured hand weakly towards her sister. Alex grabs it, openly weeping as tinted blood runs down Kara’s forearm. Kara turns her head towards Lena, reaching with her other hand. Lena takes it, but she is in so much shock that she cannot feel a thing. Her dry face is numb, every nerve ending feels as if it has been cut off from her brain. She watches the life leave Kara’s eyes, hears the death rattle in her chest - but when the green glow that surrounds her fades away, that is the moment Lena realizes what Kara meant when she spoke of higher chances of survival. _

“You weren’t talking about  _ your  _ life,  _ your  _ chances of survival.” Lena whispered. “You were talking about mine.” She hangs her head, letting the tears feed the ground beneath her. “I didn’t mean it, Kara. Please, please come back. Please…” Lena sobs, repeating that one word over and over. She squeezes her eyes shut and openly cries, not caring who hears the sounds of her broken heart.

There is a statue in the middle of the city, it towers over the park in memoriam to the hero who was always there for them no matter how many times they turned their backs on her. She never gave up on them, even when it made more sense to do so than continue to fight. But it wasn’t Supergirl who upheld that ideal - it was Kara Danvers, a shining beacon of hope, and no great display of homage would ever be able to convey how brightly that light had shone, right up until the very end.


	2. Kara

Kara has been hovering high in the sky for what feels like hours, unsure if she’s trying to psych herself up or just delay what she needs to do for as long as possible. She finds herself thinking back on all the times she almost told Lena she was Supergirl, remembering the gut-churning anxiety and guilt that accompanied each missed opportunity. This, what she’s experiencing right now, feels like all of those moments joined together in a tightly braided rope, wrapping around her neck in a noose of her own making - and the worst part is that freeing herself, no matter how badly she wants to, would damn the very person she’s trying to save.

She feels queasy in a way not unlike the effects of kryptonite as she finally begins her descent. Thin clouds part between her fingers and she tries to focus on the cool moisture that beads on her skin, savoring the feeling while she still can. Tiny pinpricks of street light glow beneath her feet until finally, her city sharpens with bright, harsh clarity. She blocks out the rush of noise that greets her with little difficulty, focusing instead on finding one heartbeat out of millions. She takes a deep, steadying breath once she locates the steady thrum and floats onward. She knows exactly where to find her and doesn’t need to continue honing in, but the audible proof that Lena lives and breathes in this moment in time is comforting.

She reaches Lena’s penthouse in what feels like no time at all, despite the pains she takes not to rush. Her boots make no noise as she lands on the balcony, soft and silent as a cat. The balcony doors are wide open again, and if Kara didn’t know better she would almost see that as an invitation. Almost, but not quite. 

Lena sits at her kitchen island, bent over a tablet. Her head is supported by one hand buried deep in her loose, dark hair, framing her face and blocking her peripheral vision. Her free hand idly swipes the screen left, right, left again, and Kara feels a sudden unbidden bout of panic come over her. There’s still time - she could turn around and fly away before Lena can sense her standing there. She doesn’t even have to flee with a quick gust of wind - she could slip away just as quietly as she’d arrived. It’s not too late.

_ No. It’s not too late.  _ Kara clenches her fists and closes her eyes for a brief moment, summoning her courage. A 99% chance, Brainy said, that Lena wouldn’t believe her. The odds were stacked against a happy ending, she wasn't so naive that she couldn't see that, but all Kara needed was that one percent of a chance to fight for.

“Lena…” Kara breaks the silence softly, trying not to startle her.

It doesn’t make a difference - Lena is so deeply focused on her work that she jumps at the sudden voice in her home. She makes a grab at her drink nearby as it sloshes in its glass, regaining her balance with an exasperated sigh. “Jesus, you scared me...”

She’s irritated; this is a bad way to start off. Kara shifts her weight, regretting her decision to make a quiet entrance. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Lena scoffs and shakes her head, keeping her back to Kara as she refills her glass. "You know, you're really starting to sound like a broken record." She comments dryly.

She’s not wrong, Kara thinks to herself. She’s spent entire nights these last few months trying to find new words to say in order to fix what she'd broken, something Lena could believe was the truth - until Kara had finally realized, with a sudden pang in her heart like a bullet wound, that those words simply didn’t exist. Lena had to  _ want  _ Kara back in her life, and be willing to forge something from the ashes and start anew. Though Kara was determined to always leave that door open for Lena, she knew there was a very real possibility that that day might never come, and she would have to learn to live with and respect that decision, no matter how much it tore her apart.

But this she can’t live with, this knowledge of the imminent future that can only be changed by one person's choices, and for all her powers and godly abilities, that person was not Kara.

When Lena turns around she is visibly taken aback to see street clothes in place of Kara's uniform and cape. Kara feels self-conscious as Lena stares at her face and narrows her eyes, searching for glasses that aren’t there. She knows that Lena is trying to figure out the purpose behind it all - no cape, no glasses? Who is she, this enigma on her balcony? But it’s really not as complicated as she thinks - Lena has known Supergirl, she’s known Kara Danvers, but she’s never known Kara Zor-El, the truest identity of the three personas that make up her life. As Kara waits for her to say something, she hopes Lena sees this subtle attempt as the olive branch she intends it to be.

Her prayer goes unanswered as Lena shifts gears. "So, which is it tonight - good cop or bad cop?" There is a touch of sarcasm in her voice and Kara's heart drops. Lena is prepared for a fight, which is the last thing Kara wants right now.

A sudden wave of exhaustion hits her and Kara feels the weight of the last several hours pressing down on her, a mountain that is becoming harder and harder to bear. It's so much easier fighting your enemies with punches and ice breath and cape tricks, but fighting with someone you love? That was more difficult, more painful than any physical battle or supervillain's scheme. But as tired as she was, it by no means meant she was going to give up.

Kara closes her eyes. All her hopes rest on the thin thread that still connects the two of them, fragile as it may be. She has to believe it’s still strong enough, and takes the plunge. "Don't go through with the launch tomorrow." She says quietly.

Lena staggers and her eyes widen perceptibly, her mouth falls open in shock. "How… how do you know about that?" She stutters.

"Dreamer.” Kara explains. “She has visions of the future. Sometimes they can be vague, but this… this she was certain of." Her mouth goes dry and her face hardens as Nia’s words play over and over in her head.

_ “I saw…there was a gunshot, and two flashes of death - one showed Lena, and the other... oh God, Kara... the other showed  _ **_you_ ** _.” _

_ There is a single second of processing as she tries to make sense out of what Nia is saying, and then Kara goes numb, her ears fill with white noise and her vision tunnels. _

_ Lena. _

_ Dead. _

_ Nia tightly grips Kara’s biceps, yet she cannot feel the pressure through her sleeves. She feels a sort of blank calmness come over her and wonders why she isn't panicking, wonders if that will come later, all at once. Her bone-dry eyes meet Nia’s, which are full with terrified tears. She wants Kara to reassure her, tell her that everything will be ok, but things haven’t been ok for months now and Kara can’t make herself give false promises this time. Instead, Kara absentmindedly reaches for Nia’s cheek and gently wipes away one tear with the pad of her thumb. _

_ “Tell me everything you saw.” _

Lena's voice snaps her back to the present. "And you're here to, what? Stop me no matter what, ‘like any other villain?’"

Kara flinches as past words are flung back at her. That night had been a bluff, meant to call Lena out when tearful apologies had failed to make a difference. Tough love, some would call it. Now Kara wishes she could’ve found softer words without so much bite behind them.

"I can't stop you.” Kara briefly raises her palms and lets them quickly drop to her sides, feeling a sort of exasperated defeat. “I can't even try, because there is no world where I would fight you rather than fight  _ for  _ you."

Lena isn't fazed by sentimentality. "So, you're not here to stop me, and you're not here to give me your blessing - what exactly do you want, Kara?" Lena is losing her patience, and Kara doesn’t blame her. "Just be straightforward with me, for once - what are you so afraid of?"

And there it is - the heart of the problem, the mistake she can’t seem to stop making. Except this time, there’s no choice. She hates it and hates herself for what she’s about to say, but she will not risk the odds when they’re this high - not if it means Lena’s life hanging in the balance. 

_ “Brainy, I can’t ask her to abandon the launch without telling her why. I swore I would never lie to her again and I am not about to break another promise!” _

_ “There is a 90.67% chance that if you say nothing, Lena and thousands of others in National City will survive the onslaught with a result of limited loss of life overall. If you  _ **_do_ ** _ tell Lena that she dies tomorrow, the entire plan goes awry. There is a 97% chance she tells Lex and a 98.9% chance he will still kill her anyway, but in that scenario we will not have the advantage of knowing when or how. You told me Dreamer foresaw Lena’s death, which means it is a death that can be prevented. The moment Lena is informed of her demise, we will be helpless to stop whatever Lex improvises.” _

_ Kara’s eyes fill with tears and her heart races. “We-We can hide her, keep her somewhere, and then when it’s over I can explain-” _

_ “Kara, Lena is one of the smartest people on this planet - she will have thought of countermeasures to keep us away, including you. And even if we  _ **_could_ ** _ get to her, even if you explained your actions once the threat was eliminated, she would never forgive you for taking her out of the fight against her brother.” _

_ Kara wipes her eyes, sighing dejectedly as she nods her head in agreement. Of course she couldn’t and shouldn't make that kind of decision for Lena, she knows that. It's the desperation talking, not her, and Kara knows she needs to slow down and think more clearly. _

_ “You’re right. I know you’re right, but, God, Brainy, I have to do  _ **_something_ ** _. ‘Limited loss of life’ is not good enough, not when there’s a chance that I can bring that number down to zero.” _

_ Brainy opens his mouth as if to argue, pauses, and refrains. His eyes fall shut and he sighs, nodding his head. He knows there is no talking her out of it, that this is just another prime example of the hero she will be remembered as in the future - the woman whose sole mission was to provide hope, help, and compassion for all. “What will you do, then?” _

_ Kara runs a shaking hand through her hair, roughly dragging her fingernails across her scalp. The pain helps center her, if only for a moment. “I have to talk to her. I won’t say anything specific, not if telling her makes her death a certainty - but maybe she’ll listen if she knows that the rest of the city will suffer if she goes through with this.” Her eyes are hard and filled with resolve as she looks back at Brainy. “I have to at least try.” _

_ Brainy’s gaze goes blank for a second as he makes internal calculations. He cannot hide the look of dismay on his face when he has his answer. “Kara… I feel I must inform you that if you ask Lena to abandon the launch, even if you do  _ **_not_ ** _ tell Lena about her possible demise… there is a 99% chance she will not believe that what you say is the truth.” _

_ Kara masks her face, refusing to let him see her terror. She had only told Brainy half of Nia's vision, leaving out the part where not only Lena’s life was at stake, but her own as well. From what Nia had been able to decipher and taking Brainy’s calculations into consideration, there was only one conclusion she could come to: A single gunshot, two deaths, and just one surefire way to prevent one of those deaths - Lena’s. As badly as Kara wanted to live, there was no question that if it came down to it, she would choose Lena every time. _

_ “There’s still a chance. I’m not giving up on her, no matter what.” She drops her hands from her hips and turns to go, her eyes already streaming with tears the moment her face is hidden from sight. “At least that’s one promise I can still keep.” _

Kara bites her lower lip and hangs her head, filled with shame at what she must say next in order to save her best friend’s life. "I can't tell you."

Lena laughs, throwing her hands in the air with utter disbelief. "Of _course_ you can't. God forbid you actually be honest with me for once in your life." Her face twists in exasperated pain at being kept in the dark once again, and it is all Kara can do to keep her mouth shut lest she seal Lena’s fate herself.

"You don't understand,” Kara takes a step forward, wringing her hands until they turn white as bone. “Brainy ran the numbers and if I tell you why you can't launch tomorrow, there is no scenario that ends without loss of life. If I say nothing…" Kara wipes one eye with the sleeve of her sweater, leaving a wet splotch on her forearm.  _...you live… _ She finishes internally, wishing she could scream until the earth shakes from her agonized helplessness. She takes a shaky breath and tries again. "If I say nothing… there's a _much_ higher chance of survival."

Lena stares at her with cold eyes, unmoved by her tears. "How convenient."

Kara lets out her breath all at once and her face crumples in dismay. "Lena, please, I know you think I'm just trying to manipulate you into calling off the launch, but I _promise_ , there is no other way. For everyone's sake, for -" She breaks off, screaming again to no-one but herself,  _ For your sake, Lena... _ She sighs and beads of tears drip from her eyelashes, the world swirls in a blur of white and black hair and green eyes. She moves a few more steps closer and her stomach twists painfully as Lena moves backwards, intent on keeping her distance. "I am _begging_ you, trust me just one more time. _Please_."

Lena drinks from her whiskey for a long moment before lowering the glass back to the countertop. She lightly runs her finger along the edge and looks away, contemplating. Kara holds her breath when Lena’s eyes tilt back up. "Beg all you want, it means nothing to me. I will never stop working to better mankind, no matter what or who stands in my way. It means nothing.  _ You  _ mean nothing." Lena’s voice quivers and it breaks Kara’s heart more than the malicious intentions meant to wound her. She gestures with her chin towards the open door of her balcony and lowers her voice. "You can leave the same way you came, Supergirl. And don't ever come back."

Kara doesn’t move for several long moments and all she can hear is the beat of her own heart thudding in her ears. She knows now that those beats are numbered, but at least Lena’s aren’t. That was all that mattered. Her tears continue to flow, wearing two wet tracks down her cheeks and she grits her teeth so hard that her whole jaw quivers from the effort to keep silent, but she makes no sound. She wants nothing more than to hug her one final time, even if the gesture is not reciprocated, but she knows she has no right to ask any more of Lena than she already has. Even so, she cannot stop her hand from twitching in Lena's direction, a movement so quick that it could be missed in the blink of an eye, and she hurriedly makes a fist to quell her shaking fingers.

She lifts her head and meets Lena’s eyes one last time, her mouth lifting in the barest hint of a sad smile. “You’re going to do great things, Lena, I’ve always believed that. I hope…” Her voice catches dangerously. “I hope one day, you’ll believe me when I say that you meant the world to me.” She walks backwards, taking small, slow steps. When she reaches the open door, she stops and takes one last steadying breath.

“Goodbye, Lena.”  _ I’m so sorry I failed you.  _ She manages to hold it together just long enough for her to make it back up into the atmosphere, beyond birds and planes and where stars seem close enough to touch. Kara lets out her anguish in the black, soundless void, and though the sun fills her body with the radiant light that gives her her power, she has never felt weaker.

* * *

When she hears the gun go off, miles away, Kara doesn’t think twice. She takes off from the balcony of the Tower at break-neck speed, flying faster than she ever has in her life, faster than her cousin ever could. Kara doesn’t think about how she is flying towards her death - the thought never even enters her mind in the nanoseconds it takes to reach Lena. She is driven by pure, unadulterated instinct to physically protect the one person she had failed to protect otherwise. She had failed Lena in so many ways, but she would not fail in this.

Kara feels the kryptonite’s effects before she sees it, but there isn’t enough time to safely maneuver Lena out of the bullet’s path and avoid being hit herself. There’s one choice, and it’s one she would make again in a heartbeat, even if it was her last.

The bullet hits her full-on and the impact knocks the air from her lungs. She staggers and looks down at her chest, green radiation glowing from inside the wound. The nanites that make up her suit start to glow as well, absorbing the kryptonite and quickly spreading over her body like a mutation, and suddenly there is sharp, stabbing pain all over her body like nothing she has ever felt before. She realizes that this is not ordinary kryptonite. This has been tampered with, enhanced, weaponized.

A second shot goes off and Kara barely has enough speed left in her to react in time. She lifts her hand and the bullet tears through the skin of her palm, embedding itself there. This one is pure earthly metal, but just as lethal with kryptonite coursing through her veins.

Her vision goes blurry as a long electric-blue light projection knocks the gun from Lex’s hands, she sees a flash of green that must be J’onn and hears something being crushed, which can only be the device that controls Non Nochere. Then an explosion of purple lights up the street and in an instant, Lex has gone, fled into the unknown.

Kara falls to her knees and feels Alex’s arms come around her; she doesn’t know how she got here so fast, and wishes her sister didn’t have to watch her die. Alex is screaming at the others but Kara can’t hear her properly, everything sounds muffled and distorted as if she were deep underwater. She can feel her organs shutting down, feels the blood in her veins burn like lava. Her heart feels heavier, thicker somehow, and each beat is weaker than the last. It hurts so much, but it’s almost over, she can tell.

Kara grasps Alex’s hand and reaches for Lena’s with the other, praying that everyone she loves will work together to bring Lex down for good once she’s gone. They will need each other now more than ever, and today will either unite or break them. She cannot be the glue that holds them together anymore.

She feels Lena squeeze her hand, gripping it tightly as if to hold her to the plane of the living through sheer force. Kara wants to squeeze back, and it takes every ounce of her remaining strength to do so. She hopes it was enough, this life she’s lived, and hopes her family will protect this city that she loved so much. She hopes Alex gets everything she’s ever wanted, everything she deserves and then some. And she hopes that one day, Lena will allow herself to love and trust again. She deserves so much more than what life has conditioned her to believe, and Kara hopes that the sting of betrayal will no longer be the driving force that pushes her forward.

Darkness starts to cloud her vision and she fights to keep her eyes open, but it doesn’t matter. She can’t see them anymore. It’s quiet, almost peaceful. There’s no white light, no angelic host to welcome her to whatever lies next, just a calming sensation that lulls her to sleep, like a lullaby her mother used to sing long ago. The girl of steel breathes her last breath and rests, surrounded by the people she loves. She would choose them all again, every time, forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to those who were hoping for a happy ending - maybe someday I'll try to write an alternate ending but this was always meant to be a tragedy. Thanks for reading and stay safe everyone :)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I keep writing scenarios in which Kara dies/almost dies - I swear I have nothing but love for her.
> 
> Next chapter: Kara's POV


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